Profile
Elisabeth Beck
Birth:
1907
Death:
2002
Training Location(s):
Primary Affiliation(s):
Lecturer, University of London (1964)
Research Assistant, Maudsley Hospital, London (1952–1964)
Technical Assistant, Maudsley Hospital, London (1940–1952)
Career Focus:
Neurology, prefrontal lobotomy, temporal lobe epilepsy, prion diseases
Biography
Born in 1907 in Berlin Schöneberg, Elisabeth Beck was a technical assistant in neurology in Germany, at both the Brain Research Institute Berlin-Buch and at the University Psychiatric Clinic at Frankfurt am Main. As a Jewish woman, she faced increasing danger during the 1930s as National Socialism (Nazism) gained momentum. During the seizure of power by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party, many researchers had to step down from positions at their research institutes and were replaced by those conforming to the antisemitic ideologies of the NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers Party). Elisabeth Beck was divorced by her husband Eduard Beck, a lecturer with whom she had been working at the clinic in Frankfurt am Main. Like many others, Eduard Beck was an opportunist who advanced his career in the Nazi-controlled scientific landscape by joining the Nazi party in 1935.
Beck was able to leave Germany in 1939 with her mother, and arranged to continue her research in England. There, she made significant contributions to the study of prefrontal lobotomy and temporal lobe epilepsy at the Maudsley Hospital in London. As a medical assistant, she worked with the neuropathologist and Jewish refugee, Alfred Meyer.
In this position, Beck investigated the anatomic consequences of prefrontal leukotomy. She also helped elucidate the pathology of mesial temporal sclerosis, that is, the scarring of brain tissue associated with epilepsy. Especially striking was her contribution to the study of prion diseases, where she provided evidence of the transmissibility of these lethal neurodegenerative diseases. She moved from medical assistant to research assistant at the Maudsley, and studied the disease in humans and other animals.
In the late 1950’s she discovered similarities between kuru and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD). Kuru and CJD are both forms of prion diseases that cause misfolding of proteins that lead to irreversible brain damage, and eventually are deadly. Prion diseases are typically transmitted through the handling or consumption of infected meat. The name “kuru” translates to “trembling” in the language of the Fore people in Papua, New Guinea, where the disease spread through ritualistic cannibalism. Individuals infected with kuru would experience ataxia and tremors, which gave the disease its name. The same symptoms are visible in other prion diseases like CJD.
Elisabeth Beck saw these similarities and sent CJD samples to the National Institutes of Health in Washington, DC, which were transmitted to chimpanzees in 1968. Carleton Gajdusek, a researcher who has been studying prion diseases at the laboratory in Washington, received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1976 for his discovery of a new class of infectious diseases, the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). In her lifetime, Elisabeth Beck visited the laboratory where Carleton Gadjusek worked once, but turned down further invitations. Allegedly, she disliked the humid weather in Washington.
After retiring from the Maudsley, Beck was granted an Honorary Doctorate of Medicine by the University of Frankfurt, acknowledging her contributions to brain research and offering some recognition after the hardships she endured during the Nazi era. Even in her older years, Elisabeth Beck continued her research, until her death in 2002, London.
By Antonia Schlesinger
To cite this article, see Credits
Selected Works
By Elisabeth Beck
Beck, E., Daniel, P.M., & Gajdusek, D.C. (1965, August 31–September 3). A Comparison between the Neuropathological Changes in Kuru and Scrapie, System Degeneration. Proceedings of the VIth International Congress Neuropathological, Zurich, Switzerland (pp. 213–218).
Beck, E., Daniel, P. M., Alpers, M., Gajdusek, D. C., & Gibbs, C. J., Jr (1966). Experimental "kuru" in chimpanzees. A pathological report. Lancet, 2(7472), 1056–1059.
Beck, E., Daniel, P. M., Matthews, W. B., Stevens, D. L., Alpers, M. P., Asher, D. M., ... & Gibbs Jr, C. J. (1969). Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: the neuropathology of a transmission experiment. Brain, 92(4), 699–716.
Beck, E., Daniel, P. M., Asher, D. M., Gajdusek, D. C., & Gibbs Jr, C. J. (1973). Experimental kuru in the chimpanzee: a neuropathological study. Brain, 96(3), 441–462.
Beck, E., Bak, I. J., Christ, J. F., Gajdusek, D. C., Gibbs Jr, C. J., & Hassler, R. (1975). Experimental kuru in the spider monkey. Histopathological and ultrastructural studies of the brain during early stages of incubation. Brain: a journal of neurology, 98(4), 595–612.
Beck, E., Daniel, P. M., Davey, A. J., Gajdusek, D. C., & Gibbs Jr., C. J. (1982). The pathogenesis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy: an ultrastructural study. Brain, 105(4), 755-786.
Beck, E. (1988). Lesions akin to transmissible spongiform encephalopathy in the brains of rats inoculated with immature cerebellum: their significance in the aetiology of these diseases. Acta neuropathologica, 76, 295–305.
About Elisabeth Beck
Cavanagh, J. B. (2004). Elisabeth Beck (1907–2002). An Appreciation. Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology, 20, 193.
Wunderlich, V. (2015). The Brain Research Elisabeth Beck (1907–2002) – Forced to Flee from Germany – Later Successful Scientific Career in England. In A. Karenberg & E. Kumbier (Eds.), Schriftenreihe der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geschichte der Nervenheilkunde, 21 (pp. 265–296).
Elisabeth Beck
Birth:
1907
Death:
2002
Training Location(s):
Primary Affiliation(s):
Lecturer, University of London (1964)
Research Assistant, Maudsley Hospital, London (1952–1964)
Technical Assistant, Maudsley Hospital, London (1940–1952)
Career Focus:
Neurology, prefrontal lobotomy, temporal lobe epilepsy, prion diseases
Biography
Born in 1907 in Berlin Schöneberg, Elisabeth Beck was a technical assistant in neurology in Germany, at both the Brain Research Institute Berlin-Buch and at the University Psychiatric Clinic at Frankfurt am Main. As a Jewish woman, she faced increasing danger during the 1930s as National Socialism (Nazism) gained momentum. During the seizure of power by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party, many researchers had to step down from positions at their research institutes and were replaced by those conforming to the antisemitic ideologies of the NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers Party). Elisabeth Beck was divorced by her husband Eduard Beck, a lecturer with whom she had been working at the clinic in Frankfurt am Main. Like many others, Eduard Beck was an opportunist who advanced his career in the Nazi-controlled scientific landscape by joining the Nazi party in 1935.
Beck was able to leave Germany in 1939 with her mother, and arranged to continue her research in England. There, she made significant contributions to the study of prefrontal lobotomy and temporal lobe epilepsy at the Maudsley Hospital in London. As a medical assistant, she worked with the neuropathologist and Jewish refugee, Alfred Meyer.
In this position, Beck investigated the anatomic consequences of prefrontal leukotomy. She also helped elucidate the pathology of mesial temporal sclerosis, that is, the scarring of brain tissue associated with epilepsy. Especially striking was her contribution to the study of prion diseases, where she provided evidence of the transmissibility of these lethal neurodegenerative diseases. She moved from medical assistant to research assistant at the Maudsley, and studied the disease in humans and other animals.
In the late 1950’s she discovered similarities between kuru and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD). Kuru and CJD are both forms of prion diseases that cause misfolding of proteins that lead to irreversible brain damage, and eventually are deadly. Prion diseases are typically transmitted through the handling or consumption of infected meat. The name “kuru” translates to “trembling” in the language of the Fore people in Papua, New Guinea, where the disease spread through ritualistic cannibalism. Individuals infected with kuru would experience ataxia and tremors, which gave the disease its name. The same symptoms are visible in other prion diseases like CJD.
Elisabeth Beck saw these similarities and sent CJD samples to the National Institutes of Health in Washington, DC, which were transmitted to chimpanzees in 1968. Carleton Gajdusek, a researcher who has been studying prion diseases at the laboratory in Washington, received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1976 for his discovery of a new class of infectious diseases, the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). In her lifetime, Elisabeth Beck visited the laboratory where Carleton Gadjusek worked once, but turned down further invitations. Allegedly, she disliked the humid weather in Washington.
After retiring from the Maudsley, Beck was granted an Honorary Doctorate of Medicine by the University of Frankfurt, acknowledging her contributions to brain research and offering some recognition after the hardships she endured during the Nazi era. Even in her older years, Elisabeth Beck continued her research, until her death in 2002, London.
By Antonia Schlesinger
To cite this article, see Credits
Selected Works
By Elisabeth Beck
Beck, E., Daniel, P.M., & Gajdusek, D.C. (1965, August 31–September 3). A Comparison between the Neuropathological Changes in Kuru and Scrapie, System Degeneration. Proceedings of the VIth International Congress Neuropathological, Zurich, Switzerland (pp. 213–218).
Beck, E., Daniel, P. M., Alpers, M., Gajdusek, D. C., & Gibbs, C. J., Jr (1966). Experimental "kuru" in chimpanzees. A pathological report. Lancet, 2(7472), 1056–1059.
Beck, E., Daniel, P. M., Matthews, W. B., Stevens, D. L., Alpers, M. P., Asher, D. M., ... & Gibbs Jr, C. J. (1969). Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: the neuropathology of a transmission experiment. Brain, 92(4), 699–716.
Beck, E., Daniel, P. M., Asher, D. M., Gajdusek, D. C., & Gibbs Jr, C. J. (1973). Experimental kuru in the chimpanzee: a neuropathological study. Brain, 96(3), 441–462.
Beck, E., Bak, I. J., Christ, J. F., Gajdusek, D. C., Gibbs Jr, C. J., & Hassler, R. (1975). Experimental kuru in the spider monkey. Histopathological and ultrastructural studies of the brain during early stages of incubation. Brain: a journal of neurology, 98(4), 595–612.
Beck, E., Daniel, P. M., Davey, A. J., Gajdusek, D. C., & Gibbs Jr., C. J. (1982). The pathogenesis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy: an ultrastructural study. Brain, 105(4), 755-786.
Beck, E. (1988). Lesions akin to transmissible spongiform encephalopathy in the brains of rats inoculated with immature cerebellum: their significance in the aetiology of these diseases. Acta neuropathologica, 76, 295–305.
About Elisabeth Beck
Cavanagh, J. B. (2004). Elisabeth Beck (1907–2002). An Appreciation. Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology, 20, 193.
Wunderlich, V. (2015). The Brain Research Elisabeth Beck (1907–2002) – Forced to Flee from Germany – Later Successful Scientific Career in England. In A. Karenberg & E. Kumbier (Eds.), Schriftenreihe der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geschichte der Nervenheilkunde, 21 (pp. 265–296).